A disrupted workplace…my 5 top tips for ‘office’ life in 2022
As we approach almost 2 years since Covid began, which has changed the ways of working and office landscape for good, I thought it would be timely to share some of the things I have learnt about running a business and team remotely, and my top tips for the ‘office’ when hopefully teams can work together face to face once again.
What has become quite obvious to me is that the ‘office’ is not a physical space or building any longer. For me and the rest of the team at Varn, ‘the office’ is now fundamentally the people that make up our business, wherever they choose to work from. As we to and fro between a total remote working model, to working from home in a hybrid way with some days together ‘in’ at the office, the business is no longer simply the physical space where we all sat in Feb 2020. Our business is now wherever the team put their minds to the tasks at hand for our clients.
However, my learning has also been that it’s so important to all be together when we can. It builds bonds, relationships, trust, helps with training and development, project delivery, creativity and also allows us to have fun together. It sparks creative conversations and helps solve challenges that may otherwise have not happened in a ‘scheduled’ Zoom call or email. During this time, we have managed to do this safely in our outdoor office space (keep an eye out for more to come in for this in 2022 ?).
So, here are some of my tips for optimal ways of working, and the things we have put in place to be more intentional about our office space at Varn.
1. Office = People not Buildings
It’s an investment, not a cost. A place of work should be a space where people thrive and therefore you must spend time and effort thinking carefully about it and ensuring it is cared for properly. My advice is make sure you put in dedicated time to curate a space that works for your team, gives them the spaces to work effectively and delivers inspiration to thrive and do good work.
2. ‘Waste’ Time Together
I don’t believe the best ideas happen when we are sat at our laptop or in front of an endless stream of emails. Our good ideas certainly don’t. By spending time together without a specific job to do or task to complete, great ideas can emerge that would never be thought of otherwise. Some recent things we have done to ‘waste’ time and be together, include going for walks as well as enjoying crafts and completing physical tasks in the Varn woodland.
3. Let’s get Physical
Similar to point no. 2 but getting the blood flowing can really help conversations and creativity flow. Our team meeting on Monday morning is called ‘Stand Up’ and that’s exactly how we do it…we stand up. I recommend choosing a walking meeting for 30 minutes, instead of a typical meeting room chat. I have even got some Pilates moves up my sleeve to take the team through in order to get us raring to go for 2022.
4. Get Back to Nature
We have filled our traditional office space with plants this year, so we can enjoy all the good stuff you get from being around plants and their detoxifying benefits, as well as creating a plan for our woodland office to be officially launched this year. And of course, we often have staff dogs come in as welcome additions to the team.
5. Lead by Example
As the MD of Varn, I know I must set an example to the team. So I will take a proper lunch break, I make sure the office building is cared for and a lovely place to be, I’ll go for walking meetings etc, so that they do the same. We have also invested in a mobile office this year which is an office in a camper van, (check out the @CamperVarn on Instagram), to work in new places and get out to nature (see point 4 above!). I regularly take The CamperVarn out and about so my team know they can use it too.
So those are my top 5 tips for ‘office’ life in 2022. However, although what we are trying to create at Varn (and we still have a long way to go) works for us, the complete opposite could work for you and your colleagues. So please feel free to read this and simply take my tips as they are intended, to be helpful advice if they work for you 🙂
In summary, if I have learnt one thing about our office and the ups and downs of 2021, it is that we all must be more intentional with our decisions and ensure we are mindful, thoughtful and creative in our plan for the ‘office’ of the future.
If you would like to chat about any of the points I’ve made or if you have any SEO challenges we can help with in 2002 then do feel free to contact us at Varn here.
